


No Matter What

by SoldierThirstClass (HardNoctLife)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, F/M, Feelings, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Mako Poisoning (Compilation of FFVII), Promises, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26309767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/SoldierThirstClass
Summary: When Tifa learns that Cloud has washed up on the shores of Mideel with Mako poisoning, she makes a solemn promise to herself.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	No Matter What

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my application to The Cloti Zine: "Because I Have You". Check them out on twitter: [@theclotizine](https://twitter.com/theclotizine?s=21)

Tifa gripped the door frame only so that she wouldn’t fall to her knees, unable to look away from the body slumped in the wheelchair before her. 

“...overexposure...Mako poisoning...catatonic…” 

Her brain picked out the words spoken by Mideel’s doctor, each one like a punch to the gut that she wasn’t braced for. 

Everything else was static. Nothing else mattered—not Sephiroth, not Meteor, not the planet—only Cloud. 

She had only ever seen Cloud as a source of strength, a pillar to lean on in her time of need, but the person before her was a shell of a man, barely even a whisper of what he once was, and unable to offer strength to anyone, least of all her. 

“Is he gonna get better?” she heard Barret ask.

She tuned out the answer, afraid it might be ‘no.’ 

“Cloud…?” she whispered as she knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his arm. His skin was cool to the touch, eyes wide, but empty. At the sound of her voice, he emitted an unintelligible moan.

Tifa felt her throat constrict. “Please Cloud…please talk to me,” she begged, pressing her forehead to his knees as she sank to the ground, hands curling into fists.

All of the joy she had felt upon hearing he was alive rapidly slipped away, replaced with an insidious dread that crept into the marrow of her bones. 

“This is too cruel,” she whispered, breath hitching. Tears were flowing, vanishing into the dark fabric of Cloud’s pants as quickly as they fell from her eyes.

“...never seen a case this bad…” 

She lifted her head abruptly, wiping her face with the back of one hand. 

“I won’t give up on you, Cloud,” she vowed, forcing herself to her feet. Now was not a time for weakness. She needed to be strong for the both of them.

“Tifa?” Barret was calling her, and she turned, her vision once again laser-focused, no tears to be found. 

“Barret, I’m sorry,” she began to say, and he grimaced. 

“You’re stayin’, ain’t you?” 

Tifa nodded, her smile not reaching her eyes. “I have to. You know I can’t leave him.”

He blew out a breath, shaking his head. “Yeah, I know. Take care of him. We’ll deal with the rest.” 

Through the pain, Tifa felt a wave of relief. “Thank you—I’m sorry.” 

After a moment of hesitation, Barret stepped forward, crushing Tifa in his embrace. She swallowed hard, burying her head into his chest as she closed her eyes, praying for a miracle.

* * *

The days blurred together, each one the same. Every morning, Tifa woke up to the nightmare that had become her reality, clinging to routine and what little hope she had that Cloud would recover.

She rose with the sun, showering before going through the painstaking process of feeding Cloud and making sure he drank water. It was slow going, as his motor control and reaction time were delayed, and it often took a lot of coaxing to convince him to chew and swallow. She’d eat her own breakfast afterward, and if the weather was nice, would wheel him outside and around town to get some fresh air. 

In the afternoon, she’d make sure to help stretch his legs and arms, trying to prevent any sores from forming and to delay the muscle atrophy that the doctor assured her would occur. 

Before bed, she’d bathe him and see to it that all of his bodily functions were taken care of. She had felt embarrassed the first few times, knowing that Cloud would have never tolerated anyone helping him with such intimate needs, but the nurse and doctor didn’t bat an eye whenever they assisted their patient in the bathroom, and soon, neither did Tifa. 

In her heart, she knew that she would do anything that needed to be done if it meant he had even a slim chance of returning to his normal self.

_ I won’t give up on him. I won’t. _

* * *

It was a balmy, cloudless day, not too hot, and not too cold. Tifa watched the waves run back and forth along Mideel’s shoreline as she hugged her knees to her chest, bare feet burrowed in shimmering white sand. Under any other circumstance, it would have been the perfect day to relax on the beach.

Cloud sat as he always did, slouching listlessly in his wheelchair beside her.

Weeks had passed without any significant change in Cloud’s responsiveness, and though the doctor at the clinic never said so, Tifa could see in his face that he and his staff had given up. They left Cloud in her capable hands, complimenting her on the skills she picked up through careful observation of the nurses. In another life, maybe she could have made a career out of caring for others as they did. 

She knew that love was a strong motivator for learning new things, but she didn’t want to help anyone except for Cloud. 

_ Does that make me selfish? _ She imagined it did.

“You promised you’d save me,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “But I guess it’s my turn to save you, huh?” 

Overhead, a seagull circled, crying out. She lifted her head, watching it float on the breeze. 

After another minute she reached over, finding Cloud’s hand and lacing his fingers with her own. She squeezed once, fighting down the pressure that had been building inside that now threatened to drown her. 

“You would probably laugh, but I need to tell you in case...” She bit her lip, unable to finish the sentiment. “There wasn’t a good time to tell you before.” 

Tifa closed her eyes, letting her head press against the armrest of the wheelchair as she inhaled and exhaled along with the tide. 

“I didn’t want to push you away,” she laughed, “No, that’s not exactly true. Maybe...I was afraid you wouldn’t feel the same. But I don’t want to die without—” her voice wavered, and she took a shuddering breath that vibrated through her body, “—without telling you that I love you.”

She gripped his hand harder now, the crashing waves swallowing her sob. 

“I love you, Cloud,” she whispered, amazed by how hard it was to say even though she knew Cloud couldn’t hear her. 

She wasn’t expecting it, which is why it didn’t register at first. 

The movement was subtle—a twitching of fingers, the slight turn of the head—and when she noticed it, she jumped back with a gasp, snatching her hand away as if from a hot stove.

She shook her head once, then twice, telling herself she was dreaming, that Cloud wasn’t  _ looking at  _ her, or not directly at least, that this was her mind playing tricks on her, a delusion she had wished into existence.

But he wasn’t bending forward anymore, and there was light in his eyes, a consciousness within them that she couldn’t have imagined on her own.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish on dry land, gasping for air.

“...Ti...fa…”

“C-Cloud?” She scrambled upright, her heart racing like a runaway train. Taking him by the shoulders, she shook him gently, watching as his head flopped back, his eyes focusing—actually focusing!—on hers. “Cloud, can you hear me? Say something!”

He blinked slowly, groaning, but it was enough. She threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him.

“I knew you were in there, I knew it!” 

Tifa was overwhelmed by a flood of emotions as she pulled back to search Cloud’s face, but the longer she looked at him, the more one rose to the surface, dominating the others: an unbreakable determination.

“I promise you, Cloud,” she said. “I’m going to save you, no matter what.” 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Twitter @HardNoctLife (main) or @SLDRThirstClass (FFVII only)


End file.
